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Descendants of Simon LEOPOLD and Caroline ROSENBERG

First Generation

 

      1. Simon LEOPOLD was born[1] about 1800 in Germany. He married Caroline ROSENBERG about 1825 in Germany. Caroline was born[2] about 1802. Simon and Caroline resided in Peine, Hanover, Germany.

 

They had the following children:

+          2 M        i.   Gustav LEOPOLD was born on 20 Mar 1830 and died on 2 Dec 1900.

 

 

Second Generation

 

 

  2. Gustav LEOPOLD (Simon) was born on 20 Mar 1830 in Peine, Hanover, Germany. He died[3] on 2 Dec 1900 in Altona, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany and is buried in Hamburg. Gustav married[4],[5] Thekla JACOBY, daughter of Bendix Ising JACOBY and Henriette “Jette” JACOBY, on 5 Feb 1864 in Graaff Reinet, Cape Province, South Africa. Thekla was born[6],[7] on 2 Oct 1831 in Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. She died in May 1922 in Altona/Hamburg.

 

Gustave's surname was also spelled Leopoldt, he was also known as Jacob Simon, but because everyone in Germany was required to take a family surname rather than their father's given name his family chose Leopoldt. He died at the age of 70, he was residing at Lessingstrasse 28 1 at that time.

 

Gustav and Teckla were married in Graaff Reinet which is located on the Cape of Good Hope, Union of South Africa. I still haven't figured out why Tekla was in South Africa, perhaps some of her family was there or she knew Gustav before he went there and joined him after he got settled.

 

Gustav's pass-port, given by the Magistrat of the town Peine, Date: 1 July 1871.  Does this mean that this is the year that they returned to Germany from South Africa, if so than some of the children were born in South Africa.

 

There seems to be some knowledge of Gustav and Teckla having a pheasant or peacock farm in South Africa to get feathers for resale.

 

Peine was in the former Kingdom of Hanover. On Helene's death certificate it shows him born in Guetersloh which is near Bielefeld, this is probably wrong. The information on his passport was given by him and it is more likely to be correct. His birth place on the marriage certificate is also Peine (Hanover) although the clerk mixed up Gustav's and Teckla's birth places on this certificate, but there is no mention of Guetersloh.

 

Gustav and Thekla had the following children:

               3 M        i.   Otto LEOPOLD was born about 1865.

               4 M       ii.   Harry LEOPOLD was born about 1867.

               5 F       iii.   Caecilie LEOPOLD was born about 1870. Caecilie (Cecelia) married Leopold Berent 20 May 1888.

 

                                  Translation of "Tafel-Lieder" (gathering to sing together) at the wedding of Leopold Berent and Caecilie Leopold May 20, 1888

                                   In Altona on the Elbe banks there lives a couple since a long time, who once came from a far-away country. - A lot of children. - We all do know the parents, therefore there is no need to name them.

                                  Once the Leopold came from Berent to Hanover.  There he met the Caecilie he got in love. 

                                  He went up to Altona to ask the parents for their daughter. Gotha is a beautiful town.  Leopold's profession is a driver. 

                                  To that town the man took his girl. Bye-bye Caecilie: now we have to part. 

                                  Now you will go with Leopold to the beautiful town, where he made a cosy home for you.

 

                                  Notes from researcher: "parents, who once came from a far-away country".  This could mean that they were Jewish and that once were allowed to settle in Altona.  The town Altona was under the reign of the Danish Crown.  It was the Danish politic to let refugees, people with other religions etc. to settle in Altona. - I refer to Altona town's crest:  the gate is open.  Compared with Hamburg:  the gate is closed. (my note: perhaps they are refering to the time they lived in South Africa) Re: Family name Berent-often Jews have family names after a town the ancestors had lived in. Berent was in West-Prussia which is now Poland, Helga does not know its Polish name but if you find the harbor town Danzig (Gdansk) go south you might find Dirschau (Tczew), go to the west there Berent located. Re: Gotha - it is a famous town in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is situated on a railway between Eisenach and Erfurt.

               6 F       iv.   Carry LEOPOLD was born about 1871. Carry married Julius Speyer and probably lived in Göttengen.

+          7 F        v.   Helene LEOPOLD Ger immigrant was born on 16 Dec 1872 and died on 25 Jul 1946. (SEE HERZFELD FAMILY)

               8 M      vi.   Robert LEOPOLD was born about 1874 in Altoona, Schleswig, Holstein, Germany. He died[8] on 13 Apr 1925 in Watertown, Jefferson County, Wisconsin and was buried[9] at Oak Hill Cemetery in Watertown. Robert married Clara Draeger in 1907 according to the 1910 census.  Clara was born in Wisconsin, she was probably the daughter of Ernest and Bertha Draeger. Robert was the proprietor of a bakery shop in Watertown. He came to America in 1904 and was naturalized in 1914 (1910, 1920 US Census for Watertown, Jefferson County, Wisconsin). His probate record and naturalization show that he did not have children. He was a baker and died of Septicema after enysipelos and had diabetes. Being a baker was probably not the best career for a diabetic. A note with the naturalization records says he was 5'3" with brown eyes and black hair. His naturalization petition states that he migrated from Hamburg Germany on the 14 day of September in 1905 and arrived in New York on 28 Sept 1905 aboard the Patrizia.  He lived at 217 N. Second St. in Watertown, where he was still living when he died. His naturalization was finalized 2 Feb 1914[10].        After his death Clara remarried and her and her husband ran the bakery.

 

 

 

 



[1] death certificate. Standesamt, registrar office, Altona-Hamburg No. 2453 3 Dec 1900.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.

[4] MARRIAGE:  No. 2 in 1864, Magistrat of Graaff Reinet, Union of South Africa. from microfilm FHL #1295254.

[5]Ibid.

[6]Staatsarchive, Hamburg, Germany-Standort der Archivalien: Geburts-Register der Deutsch-Israelitischen Gemeinde, Hamburg (1830-1840); Signatur: 552-1 Judische Gemeinden 696c, research done by Helga Frobeen,  Genealogical researcher in Hamburg

[7] Ibid.

[8] death certificate, Vol. 9, 749. Jefferson County Courthouse, Register of Deeds, Jefferson, Wis.

[9] death certificate, Vol. 9, 749. Jefferson County Courthouse, Register of Deeds, Jefferson, Wis.

[10] Circuit Court of Jefferson County, Wisconsin Petition for Naturalization #165